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June 26, 2013

President Obama Announces Climate Action Plan

By
Melanie Condon

On
an appropriately hot Tuesday in Washington D.C. with temperatures reaching
93 degrees and nary a breeze to be felt, the president unveiled his plan to mitigate
the effects of climate change. Environmentalists and industry alike have been
waiting since the president’s second term began for the
administration to take action on climate change. The detailed strategy includes
a number of executive actions that increase partnerships with state, local and
tribal governments and focus on cutting carbon emissions, without necessarily
requiring congressional action.

The
president’s Climate Action Planbreaks down his climate change priorities into three sub-categories:

Cut
Carbon Pollution in America

One
of the president’s headline efforts in the plan is his goal to limit carbon
dioxide pollution from new and existing power plants. A subsequent White House memorandum sent on
June 25 to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directed the agency to
issue a final rule on carbon pollution standards for both future and existing
power plants in a timely manner. The president proposed increasing fuel
standards, developing advanced transportation technologies, as well as
expanding, to the federal level, state and local government successes in
curbing other harmful gaseous emissions such as hydrofluorocarbons and methane.

Prepare
the United State for the Impacts of Climate Change

While
the majority of the plan focuses on cutting pollutants to stave off any future
effects of climate change, the administration also acknowledges the need to
build resiliency into our infrastructure systems. The plan institutes a
short-term State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness
that will provide recommendations to the federal government on modernizing
grant and loan programs, removing impediments to resilient investments and
developing tools to better serve state and local communities as they deal with
climate change impacts. The president also called for disaster-resilience standards
that will work to improve buildings and U.S. infrastructure to protect against
disasters.

Efforts
to Address Global Climate Change

The
president’s plan also called for enhancing multilateral engagements with the
major economic powers of the world, expanding cooperation with emerging
economies, and working to negotiate global free trade for environmental
services and goods. Additionally, the president called for an end to U.S.
government support of financing the building of coal power plants overseas.

Some
additional initiatives outlined in the president’s plan include:

Encouraging
a global market for natural gas by launching the Unconventional Gas
Technical Engagement Program that will share best practices on dealing
with water management, methane emissions and air quality

Upgrading
the electrical grid to be more energy efficient and reliable

While
the majority of the president’s initiatives require federal action rather than
legislation, the president’s budget to pay for said initiatives is still
subject to the approval of Congress.

Following
the president’s speech, the Chair of the White House Council on
Environmental Quality, Nancy Sutely, met with state and local stakeholders to
gauge states’ reactions and answer questions on the initiatives outlined in the
plan. The White House is eager to work with the states in implementing these
new directives, though certain industries and states are sure to be less
enthusiastic than others.

Melanie
Condon is a policy associate for the Agriculture, Energy, Environment and
Transportation Committee in NCSL’s Washington, D.C. office.